@lfp6
The U.S. IS solving this problem, to an extent. There are waste-to-energy facilities being built all over the country. I knew about this back in '94, because I was welding together giant "fluidized-bed reactors", which is a fancy way of saying "giant-trash-burning-steam-plants".

They're running steam-driven electric power plants all over the U.S., including one here in Huntsville, AL where I live now. And there will only be more of them in the future because they do the job quite well. ;)